Making home-made jewelry has become popular among young women, especially those in their teens and pre-teens. Bracelets, and necklaces, for example, can be made from various materials, such as strands of beads, cords of yarn or plastics, metal chains, and many other materials. Typically, the bracelet or necklace is made up of several, e.g., three or more, such strands arranged in parallel to one another. To connect the opposite ends of the parallel array of strands to each other, each end of the parallel array of strands is typically fastened to a clasp. The two clasps are releasably connectible to each other so that the bracelet or necklace can be conveniently worn and removed.
Typical jewelry clasps are described in the following U.S. Pat. Nos:    U.S. Pat. No. 2,266,074, granted Dec. 16, 1941,    U.S. Pat. No. 2,586,758, granted Feb. 19, 1952,    U.S. Pat. No. 3,120,042, granted Feb. 4, 1964,    U.S. Pat. No. 3,247,560, granted Apr. 26, 1966,    U.S. Pat. No. 3,247,561, granted Apr. 26, 1966,    U.S. Pat. No. 4,527,316, granted Jul. 9, 1985,    U.S. Pat. No. 6,880,363, granted Apr. 19, 2005, and    U.S. Pat. No. 8,499,582, granted Aug. 6, 2013.
These clasps provide for connection of the ends of necklaces and bracelets composed of plural strands, but are more suitable for use by adults, and generally lack the ability to accommodate a broad variety of kinds of strands.
There is a need for an inexpensive, versatile, and easy to use clasp to enable young persons to make their own bracelets, necklaces and similar articles.